Find a Hands-On Approach to Health Care in Oxford, MS
Here, taking charge of your health is easy, thanks to the region's high-quality services and vast options to stay active.
Oxford/Lafayette County is a region that puts the “live” in “livability,” as the residents here are met with a combination of great health care services and amenities that support and promote wellness.
Should a medical issue arise, Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi is ready to serve.
Hospital in Oxford Delivers Top Care
Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi is a 217-bed acute care facility that boasts more than 100 medical and surgical specialists who cover over 30 specialty areas.
“To provide the best possible care close to home, we assure our hospital is in a state of continual improvement by developing new services and upgrading our technology,” says Bill Henning, the hospital’s CEO and administrator. “Over the past five years, the hospital moved into a new five-story, 600,000-square-foot facility. The new facility offers a larger emergency department, more surgical suites and operating rooms, larger patient rooms and advanced technology.”
Collaborating to Battle Back, Neck Pain
Patients suffering from chronic and acute back and neck pain can receive care at the Spine Center, which is in Baptist’s new facility and is the result of a collaboration between Baptist and Memphis-based Semmes-Murphey Clinic.
Also on campus is the Baptist Wound Care Center, offering wound debridement, bioengineered skin substitutes, epidermal skin, grafting compression therapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
The hospital often adopts new technology, such as the latest minimally invasive surgical procedure transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), or transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).
“This procedure repairs the valve without removing the old, damaged valve,” Henning says. “Instead of an open-heart surgery, the TAVR or TAVI procedure can be done through small openings that leave all the chest bones in place. Our team of cardiologists are now performing some of the latest life-saving procedures, such as the new shockwave technology, the first-of-its-kind treatment for heart disease.”
Training Up New Physicians
Like any high-quality health facility, it’s the medical professionals there who make all of the difference, and Baptist is working to ensure doctors are ready to take on the job.
Through its new residency program, which received accreditation in January 2021 and welcomed its first class that July, the hospital is educating new doctors and helping retain talent in the region.
“Research suggests that physicians tend to practice
where they complete their residency training.”
Dr. Seger Morris | Internal Medicine Residency
“It makes good strategic sense, in alignment with the mission of Baptist, to train the next generation of physicians within the Baptist system so both those physicians and the system can better serve our communities in need,” says Dr. Seger Morris, chief of internal medicine and program director for the Internal Medicine Residency.
Those goals are already taking shape with the first residency class. Dr. Michael Ghaly, a native of Montreal, Canada, says he found Baptist because of its robust program offerings.
“The faculty and medical staff have been very welcoming and have established a great work environment to practice medicine,” he says. “I envision myself continuing to help the underserved and provide the best continuity of care for patients, ultimately improving their lives, families and communities through health care.”
Take Action in Oxford
While doctors are on standby, a key part of maintaining one’s health is ensuring you stay active. Oxford offers an abundance of outdoor recreation opportunities, such as parks (and dog parks) and walking/biking trails.
One well-known park is mTrade Park, a premier soccer, baseball and softball facility that features more than 75 acres of state-of-the-art fields to handle city, county and tournament participants. “Over the years, we have grown and have been able to create a significant economic impact, second to only Ole Miss football home games,” says Clay Brownlee, mTrade Park assistant director.
Brownlee says he feels fortunate to be able to provide such facilities alongside other city parks and recreational amenities. “Recreation is crucial to a healthy quality of life,” he says. “We take pride in being able to offer our citizens – and those playing with us from afar during tournaments – the best fields in the state. Providing high-quality fields only increases the level of opportunity and pleasure when joining us for recreation.”